United Kingdom

Guess we have something to look forward to in 2028.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/5264688

The UK has introduced a variety of sanctions aimed at negating Russia’s war efforts. However, experts have long argued that 'UK Limited Partnerships' -which are easy to set up and can be used to obscure ownership under the benefit of English common law- have been used as intermediaries for over 17,000 imports into Russia between 24 February 2022 and 31 March 2023.

More than 600 of these shipments concern items flagged by the EU and its partners as “High Priority” battlefield components, potentially dual-use and sanctioned items that could assist Russia in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

3,211 exports into Russia contained items included in the ‘universe of critical components’, a term the pro-Ukrainian International Working Group on Russian Sanctions uses to define components found on the battlefield.

None of the Partnerships have controlling partners or persons of significant control in the UK.

cross-posted from: https://fedinews.net/m/ImproveTheNews/t/4667

• As part of the UK's first two-day Artificial Intelligence (AI) safety summit, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced Thursday that a number of technology companies had signed a voluntary document alongside 10 countries and the EU, allowing governments to safety-test next-generation AI models. BBC News
• Eight companies — Amazon, Google, Open AI, Meta, Microsoft, Inflection AI, Mistral AI, and Anthropic — signed the document, alongside the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the EU. POLITICO
• According to Sunak, AI models will be tested by the UK's AI Safety Institute — a continuation of entrepreneur Ian Hogarth's Frontier AI Taskforce. UKTN
• The UK's AI Safety Institute — chaired by Hogarth — is also set to work with the Alan Turing Institute, the US AI Safety Institute, and the government of Singapore. BusinessCloud
• Adherence to the deal is optional, with Sunak arguing that "binding requirements," while potentially necessary in the future, aren't currently needed — emphasizing a current priority of making sure tech firms are not "marking their own homework." Independent (LR: 2 CP: 3)
• The agreement followed the world's first international declaration on AI, titled The Bletchley Declaration, signed by 28 countries — including the US and China — warning of the "potential for serious" and "catastrophic" consequences from the technology and agreeing to build "respective risk-based policies." Euronews

Narrative A:

• Despite facing skepticism prior to the event, the UK's AI summit was a success. The ability in and of itself to simply mediate conversations between the likes of the US and China should be praised, let alone the signing of shared communications and declarations. The AI safety agreement is a landmark moment, allowing governments to ensure safety concerning the latest technology within the fast-growing sector.
  POLITICO

Narrative B:

• The outcome of the UK's AI summit was nothing more than empty rhetoric, voluntary declarations, and self-promotion. Alongside a drastically small emphasis on the opportunity for good that AI's potential holds, the summit ignored the immediate urgency for international legislation. Despite likely plaudits, the UK missed an opportunity to really lead in the regulation of the AI sector.
  UKTN

Narrative C:

• The UK's summit took a heavy approach to existential questions concerning doomsday AI predictions rather than the practical impact that AI may have on common workplaces and labor. The UK has demonstrated its strength as a leading force in the sector, however, such discourse between political, academic, and commercial elites is currently too narrow and leans too heavily upon the abstract threat of creating god-like intelligence.
  CityAM

Nerd narrative:

• There is a 60% chance of a discussion in mainstream media concerning an AI arms race in March 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
  Metaculus (LR: 3 CP: 3)

As thousands of frightened civilians hurried to Kabul airport in mid-August 2021 in a bid to escape Taliban rule, several dozen Afghan commando soldiers diligently provided security and helped fellow Afghans and Brits to board flights.

They had been ordered by the British military to do so and, as their unit had been doing for two decades, they followed their orders. Having worked closely alongside the British, receiving UK salaries and embarking on joint missions in the fight against the Taliban, they were confident that they would be saved once they had fulfilled these duties.

Little did they know that they would be abandoned and over the following two years many would be tortured, and some killed, by vengeful Taliban members.

New powers that restrict the right to protest have led to the UK being downgraded from ‘narrowed’ to ‘obstructed’. Two pieces of legislation we’ve written about and have been advocating against- the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act and the Public Order Bill – give extensive new powers to police and the Home Secretary and feature heavily in the UK section of the report. In addition to the legislation, the report emphasises how climate and anti-racism protesters are being targeted by police, with legal observers experiencing high levels of intimidation, harassment and aggression.

The report also recognises that the decline in protest rights is occurring at the same time as broader restrictions and a narrative that delegitimises civil society action and ideas. This is evident both in the catalogue of new legislation that impacts the right to strike, participate in elections, or seek justice; as well as in the anti-protest rhetoric and vilification of protesters among some politicians and media.

cross-posted from: https://fedinews.net/m/ImproveTheNews/t/4654

• The Bank of England (BoE) has decided to hold interest rates at 5.25% — its highest level in 15 years — as it warned that the UK economy was unlikely to see growth until 2025. BBC News
• The BoE's Monetary Policy Committee 6-3 decision is its second pause in a row after 14 consecutive rate hikes. In September, the bank voted 5-4 for its first rate halt since December 2021. Evening Standard
• In a statement following the decision, the MPC claimed that it would be "watching closely" to see if further rate increases were needed, also commenting that it was "much too early" to consider rate cuts. All three committee members who did not vote for a rate pause were in favor of a quarter-point rate increase to 5.5%. Independent (LR: 2 CP: 3)
• The BoE also estimated that UK inflation was to drop below 5% in October — with last month's data to be released at the end of November. BoE Governor Andrew Bailey claimed that "Higher interest rates are working and inflation is falling." Sky News
• Despite this, Bailey affirmed that there was "absolutely no room for complacency." Inflation's annual rate stood at 6.7% in the year to September, with the central bank claiming monetary policy would have to remain "sufficiently restrictive for sufficiently long" to hit its 2% target. CNBC
• The BoE's 2% target is forecasted to be reached at the end of 2025 — 6 months later than previously estimated. The decision by the BoE follows recent decisions both by the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve to also hold interest rates. Reuters (LR: 3 CP: 5)

Pro-establishment narrative:

• Decisions by the BoE will likely continue to be hard-fought within its committee as the central bank walks a tightrope between tackling inflation and avoiding a recession. So far, the UK has avoided the doomsday predictions for its economy, but challenges inevitably remain as estimates for targeted inflation levels remain deep into 2025.
  Spectator (UK) (LR: 5 CP: 5)

Establishment-critical narrative:

• With growth slowing and unemployment rising, the decision to keep interest rates at their current level is a further signal of the UK government's stagnant and ineffective policymaking. The BoE lacks transparency over inflation modeling and its long-term plan, as job outlooks and quality of life continue to suffer.
  Morning Star

Nerd narrative:

• There's a 50% chance that the UK's annual inflation rate for 2023 will be at least 6.99%, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
  Metaculus (LR: 3 CP: 3)

Although Tories claim curbing net inflow of migrants is critical issue for voters, poll shows attitudes have evolved significantly

Losing control of artificial intelligence (AI) is the biggest concern around the computer science, the Technology Secretary has said.

Michelle Donelan said a Terminator-style scenario was a “potential area” where AI development could lead but “there are several stages before that”.

TIL that Royston Cave has a "VR" experience, so you can visit without leaving your browser.

If you don't know about Royston Cave, it's full of carvings and believed to have been used by the Knights Templar.

The WhatsApp group, called ‘PM Updates’, contained Boris Johnson’s closest advisers and discussions within the group touched on key Covid policies – such as shielding the clinically vulnerable, and the Department of Health and Social Care’s plans for responding to the pandemic.

But as plans for the inquiry took shape, Martin Reynolds – Johnson’s principal private secretary at the time – set the group so that messages sent would vanish after a period of time. It means potentially key discussions that took place are unavailable as evidence.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/7645717

Police in the United Kingdom are using data from period tracking apps and mass spectrometry tests conducted on blood, placenta, and urine to investigate patients who have had “unexplained” miscarriages.

Though abortion is legal in the UK, there are TRAP laws in place requiring certain conditions to be met first, paramount of which is that two separate doctors need to agree that the patient meets the criteria of the 1967 Abortion Act before any treatment can go ahead. Self-managed abortion is a criminal offense with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment in the UK, as is any abortion performed after the pregnancy has progressed passed 23 weeks and six days, unless the patient is at risk of serious physical harm or death, or the fetus has severe developmental anomalies.

they do say shit rolls downhill

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/[email protected]/t/587648

Disciplinary panel had found Julian Bennett guilty of gross misconduct for refusing test when accused of smoking cannabis

Sadiq Khan hails ‘huge progress’ as progress report finds more than 95% of vehicles are now compliant